john harwood now with the story. >> maria, republicans gave up one hammer to force negotiations on spending cuts when they agreed to raise the debt limit. now they're wielding another with paul ryan saying on "meet the press" yesterday that republicans are willing to let the spending cuts take effect without any other cuts. >> so where are we right now? i think the sequester is going to happen because that $1.2 trillion in spending cuts we can't lose. don't forget one other thing. we think these sequesters will happen because the democrats have opposed. they offered no alternatives. >> democrats in the white house say they do want other cuts. they want to engage in negotiations with the white house. in fact, jay carney the white house press secretary said today we all agree these cuts will never take effect. we need to identify alternatives. >> these kinds of across the board cuts to both defense and non-defense spending are not supported by virtually anyone in washington. and certainly not the president. and to judge by their many statements along these lines not republican leaders in cong